To win a FELA claim for compensation, you must establish that you have been injured or contracted an illness. Medical evidence is almost always central to winning the case.
Attorney Daren Sarphie explains the importance of gathering medical evidence for your Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) claim.
Medical Evidence in FELA Claims
Medical evidence may establish several things that are critical to a FELA case:
- What your injuries are
- That injuries are the result of working for the railroad, known as causation
- Whether pre-existing conditions exist and how they impact the claim
- Future damages
- Relative degree of pain and suffering
Any of these questions may be critical.
Pre-existing conditions and FELA claims
FELA makes a railroad liable for injuries caused to employees by the railroad’s negligence. 45 U.S. Code § 51. They are not responsible for injuries or illnesses that are unrelated to the work.
A person may have a medical condition before they start working for the railroad. They may have a medical condition that arises after they start railroad employment but before they get hurt. Most people have some kind of medical problem or abnormality. This is called a pre-existing condition.
In the person’s work for the railroad, their pre-existing condition may get worse. They might suffer an entirely different injury that is unrelated to a previous medical problem. The railroad might try to defend against the FELA claim, citing a pre-existing condition.
Does FELA cover pre-existing conditions?
You may still receive compensation under FELA for the aggravation of an existing disease or physical defect resulting from a pre-existing condition. Even if the pre-existing condition made the worker more susceptible to injury, and their injuries are greater than they would have been for another person, the railroad is responsible for the portion of the condition that was aggravated.
What if the aggravation can’t be separated from the pre-existing condition?
If the aggravation can’t be separated from the pre-existing condition, the entire medical condition should be compensated.
See Schultz v. Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation, 201 Ill.2d 260 (2002).
Types of Medical Evidence Needed
There are two types of medical evidence generally needed for a FELA claim. The first is the observations of your medical care providers.
They testify to injuries, the course of treatment, and the prognosis. The other medical evidence you may need is expert testimony showing how your work caused your injuries.
Expert medical testimony to establish causation is not needed in every case. Sometimes, causation is obvious. For example, if you are struck by a heavy object, you don’t need an expert to prove that it caused a laceration or a broken bone. However, many railroad FELA claims are based on cumulative trauma.
See Tufariello v. Long Island R. Co., 458 F.3d 80 (2nd Cir. 2006), where the court said no expert testimony was required to prove that loud sounds may cause hearing loss.
FELA cases regarding medical evidence and causation
If testimony regarding causation is required, failing to provide it may be fatal to a claim. See Ackman v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 556 S.W.3d 80 (Mo. Ct. App. 2018), where a worker sought compensation for cumulative repetitive trauma as a machine operator. The defense received summary disposition in the case because there was no expert testimony regarding causation.
The plaintiff’s only evidence that his degenerative trauma was from work was his affidavit, which contained hearsay.
In Myers v. Ill. Cen. Railroad, 629 F.3d 639 (7th Cir. 2010), a 30-year railroad employee brought a lawsuit for cumulative trauma suffered as a brakeman, switchman, and conductor. He had medial epicondylitis in his elbow, osteoarthritis in his right knee, and herniated discs in his back.
He required surgery. Even though the plaintiff presented four experts, the court excluded them and then awarded summary disposition to the defense. The court said that none of the experts testified to causation, only to what the injuries were.
Note: Remember that FELA claims use a relaxed standard of causation as compared to common law claims. The plaintiff must show that the injuries are in whole or in part from railroad work, rather than the proximate causation required in common law negligence claims.
Steps To Gather Comprehensive Medical Evidence
- Seek emergency medical attention
- Continue receiving medical care
- Keep a log of appointments and treatments given
- Journal day-to-day pain, activity levels, improvement, and progression
- Secure medical experts to prove causation
- Attend a medical evaluation if requested by the defense, prepare to cross-examine their testimony
- Comply with discovery procedures to admit medical testimony into evidence
The court is the gatekeeper of expert medical evidence. They decide whether the evidence is reliable and admissible. Hall v. CSX Transp., Inc., 631 So.2d. 1013 (1994) (the court may consider what the expert evaluation rests on, whether they are qualified based on knowledge, tests conducted, and information available to them).
Challenges in Gathering Medical Evidence
The challenges in gathering medical evidence are in making sure that the person is qualified to testify to the issues in question. A common defense tactic is seeking to exclude medical expert testimony on the basis that the expert is not qualified. The defense may also say that the plaintiff didn’t follow the correct procedural steps to submit the evidence.
FELA claims follow state procedural rules but federal substantive laws. St. Louis Sw. Ry. Co. v. Dickerson, 470 U.S. 409, 411 (1985). A court may reject testimony for failure to comply with procedural rules regarding pre-trial disclosure. Brooks v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., 620 F.3d 896 (8th Cir. 2010).
The Role of Medical Evidence in Settlement Negotiations and Trials
Medical evidence forms the basis for compensation. It may assist you in achieving a fair settlement and may be critical to winning at trial.
Building your medical evidence begins as soon as you are injured. When Sarphie Law represents you, we advise you through each step in your case, build the medical evidence, and follow the procedural steps.
Contact a FELA Claims Lawyer Today
To get help with gathering medical evidence for your FELA claim, contact Sarphie Law today.